A Better Life
by KatG95
Summary: Mikayla has dropped out of university and is now living with Niall.
1. Chapter 1

I sat on a bench watching a bus drive away, I should have been on that bus. It was going back home, to York. A place I couldn't go back to at the moment. There was no room for a failure like me over there. My parents didn't know that I dropped out of university. I didn't have the guts to tell them, because I didn't want to see their disappointed face.

I decided to get off the bench and take a twenty minute walk to Niall's apartment. He was my best friend. He lived next door to my grandparents and every time I went to Mullingar over the summer we would become inseparable.

I reached his apartment building and went to the elevator. I pressed the button for the fourth floor and patiently waited for the doors to close. I was hoping that Niall was home and not out with the guys. He always knew what to say to make me feel better, and I needed him at the moment.

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. I walked out with my suitcase rolling behind me. When I reached his door I stood there for a minute before finally deciding to knock. Laughter could be heard from inside. I really hope I didn't interrupt anything. The door swung open and Niall smiled at me. He then saw that I had my suitcase with me and gave me a worried look.

"Mikayla, come in. What's wrong?" I walked in and saw that all the guys were there. They also stared at me with looks of concern. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him everything in front of the guys. I loved them, but I wanted to speak with Niall privately. I waved at the guys and then turned to Niall.

"Niall can we go speak in your room?" He nodded, understanding that I wanted privacy. He told the boys to wait out here and we went into his room. I walked over to his king sized bed and sat in the middle, against the headboard. I patted the bed, telling Niall to sit next to me. He sat down and put his arm around me, pulling me closer to him.

"I dropped out today Niall. I was supposed to go back home, but I couldn't. I don't want to disappoint my parents, but school just wasn't for me. I don't want to become a lawyer. I was wasting my time there. When they find out they're going to be really upset with me and probably not talk to me. I won't have a place to go back to. I won't have anything." I began to cry as I realized what would happen when they found out. I hugged Niall tightly and buried my face in his chest. He knew how hard my parent's were on me.

"Mikayla calm down. Everything is going to be fine. You have me. Don't worry about your parents right now. In fact, you're moving in with me. Take the spare bedroom. I want you to be happy and do what you want. Your parentswill understand sooner or later." I looked up at him and smiled. He was right. I should do what makes me happy. They would eventually understand. I thanked him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Why don't you put your suitcase in the room and then join me and the lads out in the living room." He then walked out of his room to join the boys. Slowly, I got off the bed and got my suitcase. I went to the room across from his, my new bedroom, it was simple enough for my taste, but I liked the design. The walls were a pale grey, matching the queen sized bed that was placed against the wall along a wide window that showed the streets of London. A smile stretched across my face, this was definitely Niall's idea of a guest bedroom. I rolled my suitcase towards the dresser, placing it against the wall. I would put my clothes away later; I needed to clear my mind at the moment with the guys. They always knew how to make me feel better with their wild antics.

"Mikayla!" The sound of Harry's exuberant voice immediately brought me out of my thoughts as he barged into my new room.

"Hi, Harry-" I was cut off almost immediately as the curly haired teen grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me towards the living room. It was just like Harry to do something like that to me, he always seemed to sense when his presence was needed. It was like his sixth sense; a good one, I must say.

"Come on! We're deciding what movie we should watch! And of course, Niall wants your opinion."

"Uh..." I muttered, almost speechless while stumbling behind him to keep up with his peppy strides.

"I honestly don't care what movie we watch, Harry..." He turned around and gave me a questioning look.

"So you wouldn't care if we watched _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre_?" I bitterly shot him a look.

"Do you really think I would want to watch something _that _gory?" He just laughed and pushed me towards the couch, causing me to trip over someone's feet and fall to the floor. I groaned in pain, hearing the five guys laughing at me from above. I decided it was better to just stay on the floor.

"Sorry about that babe." I could hear Zayn trying to hold back his laughter. Glaring at him, I slowly stood up and kicked his feet. The only thing he did was laugh at me. I gave up on kicking him and made my way to the couch Liam and Niall were sitting on. There was just enough space for me to sit between them, so I did. Liam smiled at me and gave me a small wave.

"We're not watching _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre _likeHarry said. We're watching _The Hangover_. Is that okay with you?" I shrugged in response. I wasn't in the mood to watch a movie but I also wanted to spend some time with the boys.

About an hour and a half later the movie had finally ended. Harry, Louis, Zayn, and Liam got off the couch and announced they were leaving. I walked them to the door and gave them all a hug before they left. When I went back to the living room Niall wasn't there but I could see him in the kitchen. He was getting a drink. I quietly walked to the kitchen and leaned against the counter. Niall turned around and smiled.

"I just want to say that I'm really thankful that you're letting me stay here. If it weren't for you I'd be homeless right now."

"You don't have to thank me Mikayla. You're my best friend, I'd do anything for you." He opened his arms asking for a hug, I hugged him tightly.

"It's getting really late Mikayla. I'm going to bed. Good night." He kissed the top of my head and went to his room, leaving me in the kitchen. I got myself a glass of water and then turned off all the lights, going to bed as well. I was going to enjoy living with Niall.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, I had woken up to the sun shining brightly in my face. I had closed the curtains last night before going to bed, but knowing Niall he had probably come in really early in the morning and opened them. It was useless trying to go back to sleep so I decided to get dressed for the day.

I walked out of my bedroom and went to the living room. Niall was sitting on the couch playing his guitar. The chords he was playing sounded very familiar. I then realized he was playing a Justin Bieber song. _One Time. _He was quietly singing the words to himself. I guess he thought I was still sleeping and didn't want to wake me. That was very thoughtful of him.

"I see your playing your boyfriends music." Niall jumped slightly at the sound of my voice. I had startled him.

"What are you doing up?" He was blushing, how adorable.

"Well _someone_ thought it was a good idea to open the curtains so all the sun would shine on my face. Now I'm awake at," I looked around the room for a clock. There was one on the wall in front of me. Squinting, I read the time, "8:30 in the morning. Damn it Niall!"

He chuckled and ruffled his hair, making it even messier than before. "I thought it would be a nicer way of waking you up instead of having me go in and shake you awake. You would have punched me if I did that."

"Very true. So, what's for breakfast?""We both can't cook, there's nothing simple to make. There's two options, we can either go to eat at Louis and Harry's place or we can go to some restaurant."

"As much as I like the boys, I kind of just want to spend some time with you so let's go out to eat."

Niall had decided to take me to Starbucks for breakfast. That was a stupid choice. While we were waiting in line a group of girls passed by and noticed who he was even though he had, according to him, the best disguise ever which consisted of a hat and sunglasses. A small crowd started to form around us and some girls were giving me dirty looks. I felt uncomfortable being there so I got out of the crowd and sat at a table in the back. It was probably going to take a while for Niall to notice I wasn't next to him.

I loved the fact that Niall was living his dream of being a singer. He deserved to be successful and do what he loves. There was just times where I wish we could go out like normal people and not get mobbed by his fans.

While sitting at the table waiting for Niall, I felt someone staring at me. I looked up from my phone and saw a guy 3 tables away looking at me. He smiled and waved at me. I waved back, blushing because I wasn't used to getting attention form guys. He got up form his chair and walked towards me bringing his coffee with him.

"Hey, I'm Garrett. Do you mind if I sit here with you?" I shook my head no. Garrett was an attractive guy. His hair was a color between red and brown. His eyes were bright blue. He was tall and from the looks of it, slightly toned. I couldn't stop looking at him.

"Are you going to tell me your name gorgeous?" My face turned pink from embarrassment. I was staring at him so much I had forgotten to tell him my name.

"Sorry, my name's Mikayla," I said softly. My voice barely above a whisper. He made me nervous, in a good way.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here sitting on your own?"

"I'm actually not here alone. I'm with my friend, but he's a bit busy at the moment as you can see," I nodded my head towards Niall. The crowd had gotten a lot smaller than before. There was about ten girls with him now.

"So you're friends with a guy from a boy band? That's cool. You must meet a lot of famous and attractive guys."

"No, I pretty much spend a lot of my time with that loser and his band." I was beginning to feel more comfortable around Garrett. He was easy to talk with. It usually took me more than 5 minutes to feel comfortable enough to have a proper conversation with someone, especially a guy. It took me weeks to let loose around the One Direction boys. Then again, they're a lot to take on all at once.

Garrett was a really sweet guy. He bought me a cup of coffee when he realized I didn't have one. I had told him not to but he insisted. We had really hit it off and when it was time for him to leave we exchanged numbers.

A few minutes after Garret had left Niall finally joined me at the table. He gave me an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that. I should have known not to come here. Hope you didn't miss me that much. I saw you talking with a guy. Was he bothering you?"

I rolled my eyes at him and put my hand up so he would stop talking.

"No Niall, not every guy that I talk with is a bother. His name was Garrett and we have a date next week," my voice was showing how happy I was about the date. Niall on the other hand looked surprised. The only thing he did was blink.


End file.
